We Did It! We Won!

The City Council, by a 3-2 vote tonight, approved an ordinance banning the sale and possession of guns and ammunition on public property.

Three takeaways from this historic night:

The Glendale Gun Show era at the publicly owned, school-adjacent Glendale Civic Auditorium is officially over.

Glendale and its residents and their children are out of the gun business.

Yes, you can stand up to the National Rifle Association at its most strident. After all, we did.

The Civic-based Glendale Gun Show was the last gun show held on public property in all of Los Angeles County. Its threatened existence galvanized the NRA and Tea Party activists. But the issue also galvanized friends, neighbors and parents, including those of us who joined together under the banner of the Coalition for a Better Glendale. At City Hall tonight, Mayor Frank Quintero talked about the importance of local determination.

Quintero, a Vietnam War veteran, also spoke out passionately against the AK-47, the assault rifle that, while restricted in California, was sold as bagged parts at the March 2-3 Glendale Gun Show.

“Yes” votes in favor of the ordinance were also cast by councilmembers Rafi Manoukian, who championed the issue, and Laura Friedman.